Rabbit Hole
by Dark Lady Eris
Summary: It all leads to basically one rule, don't fall down the rabbit hole. I didn't just fall in Dom, I fucking nosedived so damn deep there is no clawing my way back out. BRIAN/DOM DON'T LIKE DON'T READ


_Just a short one shot I had to type to make room for the other stories floating around in my brain. I don't own the fast and the furious franchise, or any characters, or plot, or lines from the movie. I don't have a beta, I apologize for any spelling or Grammar Mistakes. Its a Brian/Dom Story Don't like Don't Read_

Brian walked up from his room in the basement and walked into the kitchen. Six set of eyes looked up at him from their place at the table. Brian had skipped out of having dinner in order to pack, honestly he was just procrastinating, he didn't want to leave, and he certainly didn't want to tell the team he was doing so.

Dom looked from the bag on the ground back up to Brian's tensed face, "going somewhere?" He asked with a bitter taste in his mouth, knowing the answer.

Brian nodded, "I have to leave for a bit, deep undercover case up in New York."

Mia frowned, "deep undercover? What does that mean?"

Brian sighed, "New identity basically, a cover so deep that if someone tries to even scratch at it they wouldn't find anything. It also means I'll be gone for a while and no contact for as long as I'm under."

Dom narrowed his eyes, "how long is a while?"

Brian shrugged and looked away, "year, maybe more."

Jesse stood with a heartbroken look, "why would you sign up for something that long?"

Brian swallowed loudly, "I didn't, but I'm still in a bit of hot water after everything I did to clear your names. My bosses are all pretty sure I had something to do with the case going cold, they have no proof but," Brian looked down at his arm and scratched at it. "The FBI agent Bilkins is damn sure I'm to blame, so when this case came up, he volunteered me, said it's the least I can do."

Brian picked up his bag, "I'm sorry," he told them, but didn't wait around for a response; it was hard enough without seeing their faces.

"Hello," Dom answered the phone.

"Uh hi Dom," Brian said quietly, not sure if his voice would be a welcomed one or not.

"Brian?" Dom asked, "Is that you? It's been two years Bri."

"Yeah, it's me, case took longer than anyone expected it to."

"Are you coming home now?" Dom asked hoping that was the case.

"I'm actually at LAX, I just didn't want to show up without calling first. Didn't know if you'd still want me around."

Dom blinked at the brokenness in Brian's voice, "of course we still want you around Bri, we've all been worried, how about I come pick you up huh?"

"Umm if you want to, you don't have to, I could get a taxi," Brian said once again sounding so unsure of himself that it sent a painful throb into Dom's chest.

"I want to Bri, I'll be there in ten," he said pushing the sound of his excitement about seeing the man again into his words in hope to ease some of Brian's fear.

Brian sighed in relief, "okay," he said shakily.

Dom walked back into the garage after hanging up and looked around at everyone. "I got to leave for a bit," he told them.

"Where you going?" Letty asked.

Dom smiled, "to pick up Brian."

"No shit?" Leon asked with a grin, while Letty smiled, Jesse started jumping in place, and Vince asked, "The buster is finally back?"

Dom's smile faded just a bit, "yeah, but something happened."

"What?" Leon asked with narrowed eyes.

Dom shook his head and shrugged, "not sure, but you remember when Brian first came back home after telling us he was a cop."

Everyone nodded but Jesse spoke with sad eyes, "took us forever to convince him he was really family."

Dom nodded, "he sounded like that again. Said he didn't want to just show up, because he didn't know if we would still want him around."

Everyone looked disheartened at that, it had taken them a good long while to convince Brian that he was wanted, that he was loved. They knew Brian's past wasn't a good one, didn't know any facts, but the man who joined their family didn't even know what that word meant before them.

…

"You going to tell me what happened?" Dom asked sitting down in the chair beside Brian.

Brian continued to stare blankly into the yard only moving when he brought the cigarette to his lips to take a drag.

Dom sat there in the silence not knowing what to do or say, Brian hadn't been himself since Dom had picked him up at the airport, and he had no clue what was the matter with the man. When it was clear Brian wasn't going to answer Dom leaned back into his chair and just sat with him, just gave him the silent support he knew Brian needed.

"You know they have a whole handbook of rules when you go under," Brian said startling Dom by his sudden speech. "Create your back-story from your own so you can remember it better, stay in your cover at all times while on a case so you don't screw up. Don't get too close to your mark; don't read too much into a situation that isn't real. It all leads to basically one rule, don't fall down the rabbit hole. I didn't just fall in Dom, I fucking nosedived so damn deep there is no clawing my way back out."

Dom stopped to think over Brian's words very carefully before he spoke, "are you talking about the case you were just on, or us?"

Brian shrugged, "both I guess. Before I met all of you I had everything in my life perfectly aligned. Get on the force, make detective, join the agency eventually."

Dom looked over at Brian, "sounds like you had your work life planned out, not much personal in there."

Brian shrugged, "wasn't too worried about it. The day I went into the academy I made a fifteen year plan for my life."

Dom swallowed hard and painfully, "and after that?"

Brian looked over at Dom seriously, "fifteen years, that's it. Never expected to make it that far. I'm the kind guy that rushes into bullets not away from them."

Dom nodded, "I've noticed with how many times you've come back home with a bullet wound."

"I was alright with my life you know, alright with the lack of my life really. It was kind of shitty yeah, but it was my shitty. Growing up I didn't have much that was mine, the foster family's I stayed with lent me clothes sure, but they were always someone else's before and after. Never really had a room, or a bed, slept on the floor surrounded by a bunch of other kids. So when I got that first apartment all on my own, it felt good. Didn't have a bed still, the idea of owning one freaks me out something awful."

Dom took a deep breath to settle his nerves; Brian had never been this honest or real with him about his life before the team. He knew Brian didn't like to speak about it, and doing so now must be leaving him feel raw and exposed.

"Kind of pathetic huh? Grown man afraid of a bed of all things."

"When I first got out of Lompoc I couldn't sleep on mine, too soft. It felt like I was being eaten by a marshmallow, I couldn't explain to anyone else, didn't even try."

Brian nodded and took another drag, "then I come here and broke all of the rules, my shit life wasn't so great anymore when I had this to compare it to."

Dom nodded slowly, "do you regret it? Any of it?" He asked with dread about what the honest answer might be.

"With you? No, never had never will." Dom let out a sigh in relief. "It's just that I was the best at what I do, you know? Years of undercover work and I always got my mark, closed every case flawlessly, and never had a problem with living my life by the rule book. I actually liked the rule book, liked having guidelines and following them. After this case, I'm beginning to realize something's wrong with me. I don't think I can do this anymore."

Dom started to panic, "us? The family?"

Brian shook his head and looked over at Dom, "the job, this is the second time I made the same crucial error."

"What happened?"

Brian stood up and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a sliver wedding band and placed it down in front of Dom. "I fell down the rabbit hole," he told him before leaving out the back gate.

Dom picked up the ring and held it in his hand, he didn't have a clue what Brian had meant by that cryptic statement but he knew it was important.

…

Brian disappeared for a few days, and Dom tried to keep his thoughts hopeful that he would return. No one understood what the man was going through, or even what happened to make him that way. They had only seen him that first night, but it was enough to know something had changed in him. He was quiet all through dinner, only speaking when he was spoken to, and only about subjects that weren't about the case he went undercover on. Everyone was in a morose state the next morning when Brian didn't come up for breakfast, and they discovered he wasn't in his room. It became even worse when he didn't come back home the next day, or the day after that, but Dom tried to reassure everyone. He told them that Brian just needed some time, to readjust and that he would be back.

Dom wasn't sure if he even believed the words he was saying until the fourth day when Brian walked into the garage with his head down and his hands in his pockets. He looked terrible, dark circles under eyes that were red and looked shrunken in. He had four days worth of stubble on his face, and was in the same clothes he was wearing the day Dom had picked him up. It was then that Dom realized Brian had walked out the back gate and left his bag in his room, he didn't have any clothes when he left, his car had been parked in the garage since the day he left for New York, so he didn't have that either.

Dom walked closer to Brian, he could see the tension radiating off of him in waves. He still had no clue what was going on with the blonde, who wasn't actually blonde anymore. He had cut his hair while he was gone, and Dom wasn't sure what to make of the development, it made the man look older, and perhaps more weary. Maybe the weariness was just from what ever happened the two years Brian was away, not so much from the hair cut.

Dom watched as Brian shifted from one foot to the other, like he was nervous. He did the only thing he could think of and pulled him into a hug. Brian moved very slowly, almost like he was resisting, but in the end he fell slack against Dom's body and burrowed himself deeper into the bigger man's hold.

He took a deep breath and scrunched his nose at the smell of booze and cigarettes; it didn't take a genius to figure where Brian had been, and what he had been doing.

"Did you get it all out of your system?" Dom asked softly and tried to keep an even tone to not sound judgmental or harsh. Brian took a shaky breath and nodded, pushing himself even closer into Dom.

There wasn't any way Brian could get any closer, but Dom gladly let him try. He held steady so they wouldn't be knocked back, and tightened his hold on the man to let him know he wasn't going anywhere.

Which was never the problem, not that Brian knew it. Dom wasn't the flight risk between the two, Brian was. Which hadn't been that big of issue until Brian left that night two years ago, and Dom realized that life without Brian was empty and less bright. It was less smiles, and not many laughs. It was a whole bunch of nights sitting in the dark wondering why he didn't ask Brian to stay, and asking himself how he didn't see it before. How could have not known that he needed Brian, that he loved him.

Dom wasn't the only one that felt the side effects of their missing member. The house was quieter without him; Mia had withdrawn a bit, no longer speaking about her classes without Brian there to comment with his big smile and friendly words of encouragement. Jesse lost some of the excitement he had for designing cars, Brian was always the one that would sit with Jess in the early mornings listening to the kid blabber on about anything and everything. Always nodding and offering Jesse so much praise, keeping him grounded when the buzz in his head got too loud. Leon tried to be that presence for Jess, but he didn't have Brian's cool sense of patience, or his understanding for what Jesse was talking about. He was also missing Brian in his own way, and was trying to handle it while taking on the task of filling the hole he left in Jesse's world. Vince was a bit lost as well without his partner in crime, his weekly trip to the bar became nonexistent without Brian there to go with him. Dom tried to step up and go with him one weekend, but they both realized it wasn't going to work. They sat on the barstools in silence, fully aware of the missing equation. Vince said a bar fight just wasn't the same anymore without Brian there to back him up. Dom knew what he meant, he was surrounded by family daily, but the garage, working on a motor wasn't the same without the man there with him. Letty was perhaps the most unfazed in the beginning, her and Brian had never been that close, it wasn't until she sat down one night to play Halo that Dom noticed her looking around with a frown on her face. Finally realizing his absence for the first time.

Everyone had started to cheer up after the first year had passed, sure that Brian would be returning to them soon, that cheer diminished after a few weeks, and completely went out after two whole months. At that point they weren't sure if Brian was still working, if something had happened to him, or if he just decided to not come back home. Those months were the worst, and Dom didn't know if the idea of Brian being gone, or just not wanting to come back was worse. It wasn't until Christmas time a year and half after Brian had left that Dom decided enough was enough. He called up LAPD and ranted and raved until someone finally got him in touch with a man named Tanner, who informed Dom that Brian was still undercover, and didn't know when he would return since it was a FBI ran opp.

It had cleared some of the ache in Dom's chest knowing Brian was alive, and that he hadn't left them, but some of the hurt still lingered. It was the same hurt he felt watching Brian walk out the front door to leave for New York, the same hurt that he felt when Brian walked out the back gate four nights ago, and the same hurt he felt now holding the man knowing he might walk out again someday. It was his job after all, and there was nothing Dom could do about it, he couldn't ask Brian to give it up.

Brian moved his head and Dom took that as a sign to ease his grip. Brian took a step back and placed his hands in his pockets. Dom watched as he looked down at his feet, "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Dom nodded knowing exactly what the man was apologizing for, "you're coming back home now right?"

Brian looked surprised for a moment before nodding, "yeah, I mean if you..."

"Bri," Dom said gently but firmly, "look at me."

Brian raised his head slowly, and Dom read every emotion that was swimming in those blue eyes, pain, fear, dread, and uncertainty.

"We have missed you Brian, everyone, we want you to come back home where you belong."

Brian smiled and he looked so hopeful that Dom couldn't help remembering the last time he had said those exact words to the man in front of him. After Brian had told them he was a cop, but had erased any and all evidence that they were the ones pulling the heists, and as long as they didn't do another job the cops would have nothing. Then he hightailed it out of Echo Park, and even left L.A., it took Jesse a month to find out Brian was in Miami, and who he was staying with it. Dom could still remember the shocked stammer that came out of Brian's mouth when he answered the phone and heard Dom's voice on the other end telling him to get his white ass back home. It was another few days before Brian finished the case he was working on and did just that.

It took months more after that for them to convince the man to stay, and they wanted him there. It took even longer to teach him about the inner workings of a family, too long in a way that they all knew that Brian was mistreated by someone in his past. It was disheartening to see all their hard work undone like that, but Dom knew they could fix it; they did it once before they could do it again.

"I was umm...hoping I could have a job," Brian said in whisper.

Dom jerked his head up in surprise and carefully looked over at the other man, "a job? Like a second job? You know you're always welcome in the shop on your days off Bri."

Brian shook his head, "like a real job here, I uh quit this morning."

For the first time in two years Dom felt that ache in his chest finally give away, it might seem small, but for Brian, Dom knew it was huge. He was giving up his plan for his life, one that he made long before them; he was trading it in for the family. He was staying, and that couldn't have made Dom happier.

"If you uhh don't want...shit," Brian said looking smaller somehow at Dom's silence. "Didn't really think it through, should have asked before I just quit..."

Dom didn't give him a chance to finish, he hauled Brian back in for another hug. "Of course you can work here full time," Dom said with a happy laugh.

Brian let out a chuckle as well, and Dom was beaming on the inside because of it. Brian pulled back from the hug when garage started filling up with the loud voices and laughter of the team. Dom frowned at the loss, but covered it quickly with a smile once everyone was inside. "Everybody this is our new full time mechanic," he said pointing at Brian.

…

Three days of Brian being back home had done the man a world of good, Dom could still see a tightness about him, something that wasn't quite right, but he was relaxed around them mostly. He slipped right back into his spot in the family and everyone was a lot happier themselves. He still hadn't told anyone what happened the two years he had been gone, everyone wanted to know, but they didn't push.

Brian was bent over the hood of a mustang that someone had brought in earlier that day when an official looking man in a suit and tie walked into the garage.

"Hi I'm looking for Brian Winters," he told them.

Brian stood up with a pained looked on his face, "that's me," he told the man, shocking everyone in the garage.

"I am Wayne Matthews, with Williams and Johnson Law, I represent Jayden Winters."

"Just give me the papers," Brian said with a sigh interrupting the man. "I'll sign them right here so you don't have to make a return trip."

"Brian?" Dom asked not knowing at all what was happening.

Brian shook his head no and walked over to the table that the lawyer had started to lay out a book of forms on.

"These are the forms to dissolve both your marriage and registered domestic partnerships in one," the man told Brian.

Brian nodded, "where do I sign?"

The lawyer looked up at Brian in shock, or possibly disapproval, "you don't want to read them first?"

Brian shrugged, "should I? We have no joint property, no shared accounts or items acquired, there are no children, it's just a clean cut divorce right?"

The lawyer stammered out, "yes, but..."

Brian held his hand up, "I just want it over with," he told the man a little forcibly.

The man straightened his tie and nodded, "right," he said and then started to point at each line Brian had to sign his name on.

When Brian was finished the man picked up the papers, "it will take six months before it is official."

Brian frowned, "why?"

The lawyer looked over at Brian, "California has a six month waiting period in divorce cases, it's to make sure both parties are absolutely sure. It also gives both people time to work out any issues they might need to figure out, houses, and ownership of certain items."

Dom watched Brian tense and cross his arms, "it was for a case," he told the lawyer. "We didn't want to get married in the first place. The FBI provided us with everything we needed; there are no issues to work out."

The lawyer nodded, "I am aware of the circumstances of your marriage, and be assured that Mister Winters wants this divorce to move as quickly as possible as well." Brian flinched like he had been slapped, it wasn't by a lot but it was more than noticeable to Dom. "I will do my best to petition the judge to wave the six month wait time. There is a good chance he might, but I wouldn't get my hopes up, right now we are looking at six months officially."

Brian nodded heavily, "if that changes..."

"I will call you Mr. Winters."

"O' Conner," Brian growled at the man.

"My apologies, I have a sheet here with the steps on how to go about changing your name back if you need it," the man said trying to make up for causing Brian's anger.

Brian nodded, "that would be helpful, and none of this comes out of my pocket correct?"

"Correct the FBI is paying in full," he told Brian who nodded.

The man let with a thank you, and Brian looked up and met the heavy gazes of Vince, Dom, Jesse, and Leon. "I'm not ready to talk about it," he told them with a sigh. "I will soon I promise, but right now it's still to...raw," he told them sadly.

…

Dom felt like everything inside of him was on fire, he had felt like that for three whole weeks ever since that lawyer walked into the garage. Finding out Brian was married threw him off in every which way, it made him upset and angry, it frustrated him beyond belief, and it made him so irreversibly jealous that he couldn't stand himself. It didn't help that Brian didn't seem anywhere close to being ready to explain everything to them or him for that matter. And Dom felt like he needed to know. He needed to know because before that Lawyer walked in and blew up what seemed to be his whole world he had devised a plan of his own, a plan to make Brian his. Finding out that Brian already belonged to someone else in the most permanent of sense caused that idea to go crashing down around him.

He honestly didn't know how to act around Brian anymore now that he knew of his feelings and the fact that he couldn't act on them. It led to a lot of awkward interactions between the two that Dom knew hurt the younger man's feelings. He wanted to fix it, but without an explanation from Brian he just didn't know how.

It didn't help that Vince was twice as protective of Brian since he returned; the man was almost always by his side, which didn't give Dom very much time alone with him. It was almost insane to think about how different Brian and Vince's relationship was than when Brian first came around. Brian doing what he did for the family had won Vince over and they developed a brotherly bond quickly. Brian coming back to them the second time around looking as broken as he did had sent that brotherly bond into something more, Vince was like a big brother instead of two men on equal footing. He took it upon himself to be Brian's silent protector even though everyone knew he didn't need it. Brian was more than capable to handle anything that came his way, and Vince knew that as well. It was Brian himself that the man needed protection from, he was always his own worst enemy, and that's what Vince set out to keep him safe from.

It was a job that Dom wanted, he wanted to make sure Brain ate enough, or was sleeping, preferably in his bed. He wanted to be the one that hide Brian's cigarettes to get him to cut down since he had been smoking way too much since he got back. He wanted all of it, but not the same way Vince did, which was what kept him from doing it. He didn't know if it would be welcomed in the way he planned to go about doing it.

Dom looked over at Brian who was on his left sitting in between him and Vince. He looked calmed and relaxed in the way that only movie night could make him.

Dom heard the doorbell and watched as Mia walked over to answer the door.

"Hi I'm looking for Brian," a voice rang out from the other side, and Dom felt more than saw the tension that overcame Brian.

The man stepped into the house and Brian jerked out of his seat like had been shot.

"What are you doing here Winters," Brian hissed out.

Dom was on his feet before he could even think twice about it, the words that came out of Brian's mouth were so vicious and heated that Dom was concerned about what Brian would do to the man.

It took a second for his brain to catch up and realize that Brian had call that man Winters, which meant that was Brian's husband standing in front of them. Dom took a good hard look at the man, he knew it was the jealousy in him causing him to find every flaw in the man's appearance but he didn't care, he took great joy in finding every single one of them anyways.

The guy was tall, not at all built, he had plain brown hair, with dull eye color that was indescribable, over all he was painfully boring, and not at all someone who should be with Brian.

"I came to tell you that the judge waved the six month wait period to our case, he signed off on the papers today," the man said looking at Brian with a look Dom couldn't describe.

"I thought that was what the lawyer was for," Brian snapped, "so we didn't have to talk to each other ever again."

"Bri," the man sighed out.

"Don't call him that," Dom barked surprising everyone himself included.

The man turned to look at Dom very carefully; he looked like he had a lot to say, but wisely kept his mouth drawn in a pinched line.

"What did you hope to achieve by coming to my home?" Brian asked and even despite the situation Dom couldn't help but smile at the sound of the word home coming from Brian's mouth. "Why here, why around my family, were you hoping to get introduced?" It was clear that Brian was getting angrier by the second. "Everyone this is my ex-husband Jayden," he hissed. "That what you wanted?"

The man took a step back and pointed at the door, "maybe we should have this conversation outside," he told Brian.

Brian nodded and started to move; Dom placed his hand on the man's shoulder and waited for Brian to look him in the eye. When they had eye contact Dom took a good hard look at Brian's face. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, even what he was trying to say with the look on his own face, but whatever it was Brian must have understood anyways. "I will meet you outside," he told the man and when the guy walked out the door he turned back to Dom. "Let me go do this, then we'll talk," he told him in a whisper.

"I don't like him," Vince said loudly.

Brian sighed, "You don't really like anybody," which was very true, Vince pretty much hated everyone except the family or any female who hot as hell. "You don't have to though, you can hate him," Brian said firmly.

"You know when I don't like somebody, I don't trust them. I don't trust you going out there by yourself with him."

Brian sighed, "I was married to the guy for two years Vince, I think that ship has long since sailed."

Dom growled shocking everyone once again, "we're standing by the door," he told Brian.

"That's fine," he said before walking out the front door. When the door slammed Brian walked out onto the porch and sat down on the steps, "what do you want Winters?"

The man stood in front of Brian and the stairs, "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Brian glared at the man, "that's nice, your guilt getting to you then?"

"I don't do anything wrong," Winters hissed.

"Bullshit," Brian yelled, "you fucking used me and you know it."

"It was for the case!" The man yelled back at Brian.

Dom stayed glued to the door, his fist tightly wrapped around the handle.

"What we had to do in public was for the case, anything behind closed doors was just you getting a piece of ass while you were away from your fucking fiancé," Brian hissed venomously.

"It's not my fault you thought it was real, I thought you were better at the job than that! Guess it's to be expected..."

"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Brian questioned, even though deep down he knew what the man in front of him was going to say.

"It's not the first time you let the lines of the job blur together is it?" He asked smugly. "Your living with your old marks after all aren't you? Honestly O'Conner your shit at undercover work."

As soon as he saw Brian flinch Dom had heard enough, he barged out the door and stormed down the steps into the man's space. He grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him in close.

"Dom," Brian called, "you can't, he's a cop."

Dom ignored what Brian was saying and glared at the man who currently trying to wiggle himself out of Dom's grasp. "I suggest you get the fuck out of here, no one yells at him like that, or says the shit you did, get off my property or not even being a cop will save you," Dom spat out at the man.

"Fine," the man said pushing out of Dom's grip.

Dom turned to look at Brian who threw his head down into his hands in embarrassment. "Talk to me Bri," Dom said, "because none of that sounded good."

Brian sighed, "Don't make me do this," he said quietly and desperately.

Dom wanted to go to the man, he wanted to wrap his arms around Brian and comfort him, but he couldn't not until he had answers, not until he knew if that course of action would be okay, if he had a shot with the man. "Why don't you want to tell me?"

Brian looked up and for the first time since he had met the man Dom saw tears in his eyes, "because I'll lose everything," he said brokenly. "You, the family, I will lose it all!" He yelled at the end.

Dom said the hell with it, the sight of Brian's tears had him walking back up the steps and pulling Brian up and into his chest. "I think you should give me more credit than that Bri, the family more credit than that."

Dom felt Brian shoulders shake, he gripped onto the man tighter, "come on Bri, tell me, it's going to be okay."

"You don't know that! You don't know that!" He murmured. "It's not going to be, going to lose everything!"

He sounded so sure, so broken, it was killing Dom inside. He pulled back and watched as Brian let out a heartbreaking sob while looking at his feet. "Look at me Bri," Dom said gently, and when Brian didn't move he took his hand and forced his chin up. "Tell me what happened, I promise it's not going to change anything, I swear to you Brian, and I've never broken a promise to you have I?"

Brian shook his head no, and dropped down heavily on the stairs. "We got married for the case, but you already knew that," Brian said shakily.

Dom nodded and sat down beside Brian he put his hand on the back of the man's neck for support.

"We hated each other at first," he huffed out. "We're so completely different it's not surprising, the man completely hates street racers and anything to do with them."

Dom lifted his eyebrow in surprise at that, he didn't know how Brian could stand being around someone for two whole years that hated something that so completely engrained into Brian's being.

"Things started mellowing out after the first few weeks, found common ground in the job, in the bottom of a bottle of jack. In public we had to keep our interactions that of a couple, but it wasn't necessary in our house."

Dom felt a cold chill travel down his spine at the words our house, he wanted to tell Brian that there was no our when it came to him and that asshole, and that place he was in certainly wasn't his house. He knew that he needed to let Brian just get it all out however, if he interrupted the man he might bolt, or just stop talking.

"He sought me out the first time," Brian said sounding as if he was in pain. "Made me think...the things he said...I just thought. I thought he loved me."

Dom took a deep breath that didn't quite fill his lungs, "did you love him?"

Brian shook his head, "I thought I did," he said quietly. "For two years I really thought we loved each other and when the case was done, I thought he might actually want something with me, for real. He was just using me though; when the case was over I asked him what he wanted to do about us."

Dom squeezed the back of Brian's neck, fully aware that his palm was sweaty from his nerves. "What did he say?"

Brian closed his eyes tightly, "he laughed."

Dom felt his blood run cold, he felt blinding rage course through his entire body. He wanted to hunt down that son of bitch and make him pay.

"Said he was engaged and I needed to learn the difference between what was real and what was the job."

Dom knew that as much as his own heart was breaking from finding out that Brian was in love with someone else, he knew Brian's was already so. He pulled him into his chest, "oh Bri, I'm so sorry."

Brian sniffed and leaned up against Dom tensely. "It hurt at first, when I came back it was all just too much. But then I went and got drunk as hell and I realized I didn't really love him. Yes I screwed up, but not as bad as I did with you," Brian whispered.

Dom flinched back and looked at Brian, "what do you mean?"

Brian stood and walked down the stairs, "I should have been able to turn you in! I should have been able to do my damn job! But no I had to go and fall in love with my mark and I just couldn't fucking do it. I knew all that time that I loved you, and you would never love me back. So when I got to New York and things happened with Winters I thought maybe I was moving on! I wasn't though I was just kidding myself, I know it wasn't love, I actually knew the minute I saw you again that it wasn't the same!"

Dom stayed frozen in shock he stared up at Brian in disbelief, he didn't think there was any way possible that Brian had just said the words he had heard.

"Now you're going to hate me!" Brian screamed out desperately.

Dom shook himself out of his shock, stood up, and flew down the stairs. He grabbed Brian by the face and hauled him closer to kiss him. Dom pulled back and almost chuckled at the look of surprise on Brian's face, he knew with everything Brian had been through however that man would take it the wrong way, so Dom kept it in. "I don't hate, I love you too Brian, realized I did the first week you were gone, but I couldn't tell you. This whole damn house was on pause for the two years you were gone, hell I was. No one smiled as much, or laughed. Things weren't the same with you. I want to kill whoever hurt you so bad from your past that they left you without the ability to believe you're loved, or that you even deserve a family. We need you to be complete; I need you to be whole Bri."

Brian blinked slowly, "you love me?"

Dom nodded and placed both hands back on Brian's cheeks, "I love you," he said slowly pouring every bit of sincerity he could into the words. "You didn't fall down the rabbit hole Brian," Dom said finally understanding the conversation they had when Brian first returned. "You fell in love, and I did too. You found a family, something that meant more to you than your job ever did. You said you didn't have a plan past 15 years for that job; you didn't care if you died and left it behind, but you care about leaving us behind. I know you do, or you would have never quit. You traded that job in, not because your shit at it, or because you failed. But because you found something better."

Brian moved closer to Dom and folded himself up into the man's chest. Dom wrapped his arms tightly around the man. "We are going to the social security office first thing in the morning to change your name back, the only name other than O' Conner you'll have in the future is Toretto," Dom said shocking himself.

Brian chucked, "Brian Toretto huh?"

Dom nodded, "yeah," he said liking the sound of that.

Leon looked through the window once more before pulling back, "well that's kind of shocking."

Vince let out a laugh and clapped Leon on the shoulder, "nah," he said.

"You knew?" Jesse asked surprised.

Vince shrugged, "Brian and I do go out and get drunk at a bar every week, he talks about Dom a lot. Same thing happens when I go out with Dom."

"Well I think it should be a Christmas wedding," Mia gushed. "Since Brian missed two while he was gone, good way to celebrate."

Vince shook his head, "I think they were talking about in the far future Mia, don't think they'll be getting married in December."

Mia shrugged, "we'll see."

See they did, that very December the whole family surrounded Dom and Brian as they said their vows, and if Mia saw Vince wipe a tear from his eye, well she wasn't telling.


End file.
